TV Visual Effects supervisor roundtable: ‘Black Mirror,' ‘The Boys,' ‘The Wheel of Time'

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3 days ago

Which is more challenging, big explosions or unnoticeable details? How do the different departments work with each other to tell stories on TV? Why is it sometimes lonely in the visual effects department? These were some of the topics discussed by three top television VFX supervisors when they joined Gold Derby's special 'Meet the Experts' roundtable. Our guests are James MacLachlan (Black Mirror), Stephan Fleet (The Boys), and Andy Scrase (The Wheel of Time).
Watch our full group panel above. Click on each name above to view that person's individual interview.
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Approaching a battle scene can be a formidable task for the visual effects supervisor. 'Seeing an edit slug that says, 'Space battle here,' you know what's coming," says MacLachlan. "It's quite daunting seeing the white words that say, 'Giant heart of infinity explodes,' needing to work into the scenes that are in and around it. Some are in camera, some are full CG, some are augmented. Maintaining that level of expectation through those moments, yeah, it's daunting.'
'Once you get into the big magical battles, that's something where you can't get it wrong,' says Scrase. 'There's a lot of fan reaction content creators. You get a lot of satisfaction from seeing how they react to it. You've looked at an individual shot about 200 times at least. It's good to see people's reaction to it the first time. That raw emotion to it and reaction is priceless.'
For his part, Fleet leans into his collaborators to take off the pressure. 'It's funny because, for battles, we have this great stunt coordinator, John Koyama, who does these huge fights. They involve a lot of blood and wire removal on my end. So with the exception of maybe a larger visual effects component, I actually am able to step back and let special effects, prosthetics and stunts do a lot of the cooking,' he says. On The Boys, he explains, the effects come into play in when 'there's some new super power. Even if it's someone just looking at something and their eyes are gonna glow. Then I know I'm going on a journey in post.'
'It's fascinating, isn't it?" muses MacLaughlan. "We've got to glean from everybody how we're going to achieve shots; rather than just doing our own little window. Given how many teams of people who are reliant on us in post, it's a fascinating dynamic. Isn't it? The team sport versus what we have to supply later to all of these teams. I'd never thought of it like that.'
As Scrase sums it up, 'I still try and keep it intimate. I get to visit all the vendors because all the work's done in London. I like to build up a bit of camaraderie and a team spirit. That's just the way I like to work. I tend to find you pull in everyone on board with you. I make sure I bring the whole team with me. They can suffer with me along the way.'
This article and video are presented by Netflix, Prime Video, and Sony.
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